David and I always forget the names of the places we liked when we travel, so this is a cheat sheet I made while driving 6 hours to Delhi.
Hotels
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Bangalore – Stayed in the Taj Residency; not bad. Cheap massage, plentiful pubs nearby, rock-star free breakfast. Vinod is the best room service boy in the history of hotels.
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Mumbai – David was lucky enough to camp out in the Taj President; great location in Colaba, beautiful pool, hip atmosphere. I unfortunately was stuck in the boonies at the Orchid Hotel near the domestic airport. The only benefit was Shiv Sagar fast food restaurant nearby. Not recommended.
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North Goa/Baga Beach – Cavala Resort; fabulous Portuguese architectures, charming poolside huts; free breakfast at any time of the day and all for a cheap price. Do not try Alidia Resorts—that’s the crow place.
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Udaipur — Tiger Hotel. Very hip and stylish; one of the most boutique-like hotel I’ve seen since arrival. Rating: 5 Naans for location and views from the rooftop bar. Sadly, this is not the place we stayed, that was the New Jaheel Guest House. Nice owner, nothing else nice about it unless a view of the most polluted part of the lake excites you.
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Jaipur – Hotel Trident. What you’d expect from an American chain. Nice, much quieter, Likely no drum circles outside the window in the middle of the night.
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Agra – Taj View. Treated David like a king on his birthday with floral lei, cake, wine in the room and a bouquet of flowers from the staff. 90 minute massages for $40, great restaurant and a rather clairvoyant astrologist.
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Delhi – Metropolitan Hotel. Upmarket, super pricey, fab breakfast with sugar donuts until 1030, but at this point I’m not risking filthy showers, bugs and fluorescent lighting.
Fun Things
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Mumbai
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Shiv Sagar Absolutely amazing Indian veg fast food near domestic airport
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Mahesh Lunch Home. Excellent seafood. For dinner.
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Leopolds & Café Mondregards. The ex-pat/backpacker scene; good for the homesick and tikka belly sick. Sometimes you just want to order some garlic bread.
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Tea at the Taj Gateway. For the hell of it.
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Karaoke Options (never went but these were from Swastik’s pal) Not Just Jazz By The Bay; Club Synergy; Banana Bar; Destiny/ What’s Your Poison
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Goa
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Britto’s. Because Dave Francl loves it. Just about any beach shack for sunset beers and spring rolls. There are thousands.
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San Francisco Café, Anjuna . Had to go just for the name. Great grilled cheese.
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Anjuna Beach Market. Every Wednesday it is a shopper’s paradise. Literally everything under the sun for sale except the Kingfisher t-shirt I want!
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Calangute in general is not great. Very overwhelming.
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Breakfast on the terrace overlooking the sea at Taj Fort Aguda.
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Udaipur
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Tiger Hotel rooftop bar at sunset—they actually have a beer that is not Kingfisher! And free pappadam.
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Had a bad meal at Lotus Café. Had a great pot of chai at the Edelweiss Café in the morning.
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The Natural View. A three-tier rooftop bar and restaurant. Had a lovely lunch overlooking the city; glad it was a sunny day because they had no electricity when we were there. It happens.
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Jaipur
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Raj Mandir Theatre. In theory, super fun.
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X?. Pretty good veg restaurant near the theatre. Will fill in. No Kingfisher though.
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Mediterrano’s. My first pizza in India! It was thrilling! And they wash all vegetables in boiled water so we had bruscetta which was great. And beer in a teapot since they didn’t have a license.
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Agra/Delhi
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The Taj View had a great restaurant; very civilized but excellent food (Agra).
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Dinner at Saravana Bhaven – A dosa place that is actually in New York and Sunnyvale too! The choco-sundae was fab.
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